"I COULD BEAT THIS
GUY WITH MY EYES CLOSED"
Famous
Last Words
There
were 79 entrants in the $5,000 Omaha Ho-Lo
for a total prize pool of $371,300. One
table was paid, a total of 9 players.
To setup the Final Table Wednesday night,
Marcel Luske and Hans Pfister chopped
up a "Dr. Harvey," the all-in short stack,
with a better high and low so the last
nine could go to bed. One out of the money
was also one out of the Final Table because
only nine were paid.
THE
FINAL TABLE:
32 mins left of 90
The blinds were $1,000/$2,000
Player
Hometown Chip
Count
Seat
1 Hans Pfister Zurich, Switzerland $35,000
Seat 2 Max Stern San Jose, Costa Rica
$37,000
Seat 3 Mike Shi Lakewood CA $ 9,000
Seat 4 John Cernuto Las Vegas NV $51,000
Seat 5 John McIntosh Baltimore MD $13,000
Seat 6 Daniel Negreanu Las Vegas NV $98,000
Seat 7 Mike Matusow Las Vegas NV $46,000
Seat 8 Marcel Luske Almere, Holland $43,000
Seat 9 Greg Mascio Fullerton CA $64,000
At most Final Tables, typically, there
will be one player who can barely win
a hand. Today, there were three such players.
The reason for this super-abundance of
player bad luck had a name. The reason's
name was Daniel Negreanu.
Mike
Matusow derisively sang this early-table
theme song, "Daniel�Daniel�He plays every
hand, he flops every hand." In actual
fact, Negreanu usually RAISED every hand
and won. Worse for those who lost to him
(again Mike Matusow speaking) "He gets
in with the worst of it every time and
wins." Not in this WSOP has there been
an initial chip leader double up in the
first hour of play. It was mind-boggling.
Everyone
who's played with Daniel Negreanu knows
how hot he can get, but usually Danny
is playing good starting cards. Today,
Negreanu could feel the momentum he had,
knew he was on a freeroll against this
field, and played almost any four cards
he picked up. And they won! As Danny's
stack reached for the ceiling, Mike mugged
to Daniel "Those chips are an illusion.
You are going to need every one of them
when we get� HEADS UP. It seemed like
a jest at the time, but more prophetic
words weren't spoken today.
Before
play commenced, Danny and Mike Shi crossed
paths and wished each other good luck.
"You're going to need good luck with only
$9,000." Danny added with the now-famous
Negreanu cackle that sends ice-water down
player's spines. You could tell Danny
was juiced for this one. Mike Shi didn't
have much luck and left quickly to Hans
Pfister's flopped three Kings. Shi had
A 3 4 6, but no low came.
Although
well behind Negreanu, Greg Mascio WAS
second chip leader at the start. But two
huge hands early sent Greg out in 8th.
Both hands were odd because it was hard
to tell what Mascio had that made him
call all the way to the river then muck.
Mascio called yet another Negreanu raise
from the big blind and mucked his hand
when Danny showed him trip Jacks with
no low. The board was J 9 4 6 7. Did Greg
have trip 9's and no low?
The same thing happened later when Danny
showed Greg a middle straight and an A
3 for low. John Cernuto ended Mascio's
disappointing day with an A J 4 3 for
a straight and nut low. Greg finally had
to show a hand. He had Q Q 5 2 all-in
for Queen's up.
How
many of you Omaha Hi-Lo players raise
under the gun with J 9 8 7. A middle wrap
is often death in Hi-Lo. As hot as he
was at the time, Danny Negreanu didn't
have to look at his cards to raise under
the gun. John McIntosh should get something
for four pair, don't you think? That's
hard to do. John was all-in from the big
blind with 10 9 6 3. A straight beats
four pair in poker, but should it? Which
is harder to get?
The third player to avoid winning very
often today was Max Stern. The good Doctor
chopped a couple of all-ins, but then
left in 6th for a house call. His own.
Doc went all-in for the last time with
A 10 10 4. Mike Matusow was just starting
to heat up. He had pocket 3's and flopped
a full house. The board double paired
with no 10's and no low.
The
magic cards were still coming for Danny
when Hans Pfister called all-in from the
big blind and his last $1k. Hans needed
Kings but not the one that came on the
river giving Danny the nut straight with
his A Q. The multi-talented Swiss could
go get a chocolate in 5th.
The
cards that were falling had 'Miami' John
Cernuto talking to himself. John went
all-in on the turn when he made a Queen
high flush. Marcel Luske had the Ace high
to give Cernuto 4th.
A
fabulous insight into what was going on
at that point was provided by the inspired
poker writer, Lee Munzer. Lee noticed
the obvious, as usual. (Just kidding,
Lee) Marcel Luske had allowed his play
to be affected by the shenanigans of Negreanu
and Matusow. Danny and Mike are opponents
several times a year. They can goof around
without hurting themselves. Marcel was
the stranger to the group and couldn't
play the duo's game. Marcel's hope for
victory was in the nether lands. All-in,
Luske needed a 5 to survive. He had pocket
5's, but Daniel Negreanu had flopped a
full house with 3 4. No 5, no survive,
in 3rd for Luske.
The
bantering between the two was constant
for four hours. Example: Danny speaking
to Mike: "We've played heads up, maybe
20 times. You almost won once." Danny
speaking about Mike: "I could beat this
guy with my eyes closed."
But
Mike won this time and it was a big one,
his second gold bracelet and a cherished
memory.
Negreanu,
after being so hot for so long�well, let
Matusow tell it. "He (Danny) never put
me on a hand. But when he started to go
cold, he finally did (put Matusow on a
hand). That's when I stole him blind."
Just as Mike had predicted, "You're going
to need every one of those chips�HEADS
UP." Danny did need every one and he lost
every one.
Alarmingly
the unthinkable eventually happened. The
castle of chips that Danny had built on
the bones of the departed, was gone.
Danny
went all-in for his last $14k with a back
door straight and low draw. Mike Matusow
had flopped trip 4's and needed two bricks
to shut his rival up and out. That's what
came, 10 9.
In
40 years or so, when Mike Matusow and
Danny Negreanu are elderly gentlemen sitting
in the Horseshoe coffee shop together,
Mike will STILL be teasing Danny about
what happened on May 16, 2002. It was
THAT important to both of them.
One
of the things you can do with 'Famous
Last Words' is 'Eat Them.'
Mike Paulle
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